Vitu Waitui

Aloha again. After a loooong hiatus the Gods at Tiki Central have granted me my own identity back. In the years I have been away after losing my Sharkbait bar, (Divorce is fun!) I started on my latest project Vitu Waitui. I dedicated a little bit over 500 square feet of the second story room over the garage for my own dive bar. A few members of the SD Ohana may not recognize the first few images as it has changed considerably from where it started. I know Bamalamalu has started on her bar/home project so it inspired me to look back….

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-22 13:10:06 ]

I moved the few meager Tiki items I had rescued from the ashes of divorce into the new room and added a roll around bar that I bought from a defunct catering company…. And the journey began.

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After the first lamp was hung, I decided to tackle the ugly ceiling.

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-11 12:02:47 ]

Looks like a great space, the wood panel walls kind of suit it.

Excited to see what you do with it.

Since this space would have a heavy nautical theme, I used both dark reclaimed wood and rolled matting to cover the ceiling. The rolled matting was a frustrating raw material to work with! I purchased 4’x8’ door skins from Home Depot. I then built a tiki sandwich of skins and matting to flatten them out. I let a couple of weeks pass with heavy boxes compressing the matting sandwich. Eventually, I was pleased to discover the rolled matting nice and flat. I then stretched, glued and clamped the matting to the door skins. Once the glue was dry and matting bubble free, I used amber Shellac on the Lauhala matting. I really like the final color. It reminds me of the Dagger Bar. (Long live the Donn) For the Bac Bac matting I used Varathane satin varnish. My idea was to create a decent contrast between the different matting styles on the ceiling.

Thank you Beachcomber. Believe it or not the wood on the walls isn't paneling. They're actually clear birch T&G. I can't imaging what it would cost to build that room today. Sadly, most of the birch is now an expensive underlayment for matting and bamboo slats.

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-11 13:23:11 ]

One of the first big additions to Vitu Waitui was the addition of “Lucky”. I found him in Burbank. He is a large fiberglass Ku with light up eyes. (They still work). I believe they were made by a Chinese company. The only other one I have seen is at Psycho Suzy’s Motor Lounge. If anyone has any additional information please feel free to hijack this thread.

With the ceiling done and many lessons learned along the way, it was time to build a bar. Having a wet bar was a must. Huge delay with plumbing. It was definitely a problem adding water and drains to a second story more than 30’ away from any water supply or drain. My solution, add a first floor bathroom directly under the bar. Now I have water and the all important drain! On with the bar! The bar itself is probably over engineered with a 2x8 frame, but feels sturdy.

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The things I thought I wanted during the bar design included a sink, fridge and lots of storage. Looking back I didn’t dedicate enough space to storage. Sigh, another lesson learned.

Another crazy idea I included in the bar design was access to draft beer. I found an old boat captain’s helm that I used at the end of the bar. The plan was to run insulated supply lines from the kegerator through the helm station to a row of tap handles on the back of the helm. Note, a still lingering punch list item is to install some internal LED lighting behind the gauges to illuminate them and add to the ambiance. Since completing the bar, I have yet to pour one drop of beer through the taps. Sigh, another lesson learned.

Another crazy idea I included in the bar design was access to draft beer. I found an old boat captain’s helm that I used at the end of the bar. The plan was to run insulated supply lines from the kegerator through the helm station to a row of tap handles on the back of the helm. Note, a still lingering punch list item is to install some internal LED lighting behind the gauges to illuminate them and add to the ambiance. Since completing the bar, I have yet to pour one drop of beer through the taps. Sigh, another lesson learned.

My most current hair brained idea is to rip the kegerator out and replace it with an under counter ice machine. I am currently researching water filtration systems before diving in to this project. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

For the bar top I convinced myself after watching YouTube that I could make my own live edge custom bar top. All I can say is I’m glad I only had to make one….

Another great find was “Lego”. This massive 8’ 2” solid Ku was named because of his hand shape. I found Lego In Phoenix and brought all 400 lbs of him home here to San Diego. He originally graced the entrance to the Hilo Hattie store in Phoenix. He was in the hands of a private collector who agreed to part with him as long as I gave him a good home. Sigh, another lesson learned, 96” ceilings can create some challenges for a tiki of his size. Still it is amazing to have some vintage tiki in the bar.

Wow, you've got some incredible tikis in your space. Welcome back.

Wow, you've got some incredible tikis in your space. Welcome back.

Thank you Hamo!

Now that the basic bar was built, time to add some lighting and decoration. I think LED light strips have to be one of the best inventions ever for modern tiki bar builds….

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-13 23:59:55 ]

Over the bar I wanted a bamboo overhang with thatch. I didn’t want the hassle of bamboo posts providing support. So I tried suspending the overhang portion from the ceiling rafters by steel cables.

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-13 15:22:23 ]

Great progress and man you nabbed some great Tikis... congrats.

Thank you TackyTiki

Love the Ku with the light up eyes, great job on the bar too.

Thanks Chewie. The light up eyes always remind me of the old Coco Joe’s lava.

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Once the construction of the bamboo overhang was complete it was time for shellac, lashing and thatch. Overall I think it added to the tropical feel.

A few odds and ends from the front of the bar….When I built the bar I initially designed it for four of the rattan barstools to fit comfortably across the front of the bar. Of course, I later found an old nautical jump seat with incredible patina. I don’t think I could have built the bar without eBay, Craigslist and Offer Up. I added the jump seat as a fifth spot for a butt, in case the bar was ever too crowded. To the best of my knowledge and despite the bar being packed, the seat has never been used, I still think it’s fun. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

For the foot rail I found some weathered brass foot rail supports (eBay) and rope wrapped the bar. Durable and arguably nautical.

One last note on Lego. Although I can’t boast real human skulls like the most famous home tiki bar here in San Diego, Lego does wear a necklace with a legitimate monkey skull that was reportedly used in rituals. The skull is/was supposed to be cursed, I’m pretty sure unlike the Brady Bunch, the rumor of the curse was just to get a sucker like me to pay more for the skull.

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[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-26 11:14:41 ]

WOW ECTiki! You have a lot going on here! I think those door skins are the only way to go with the matting. The extra expense is justified by an easier and more solid installation. 2x8? Sure, that should be sturdy LOL Never enough storage or electrical outlets right? Love that bar top, great job! Love the octopus arm coming out from behind the tuna! Will you be able to hide your steel cables inside a natural rope?
Looks AWESOME!

Thank you MadDog! I think I hid the steel cables reasonably well using fishing nets and old buoys. And keep preaching brother, I need like 100 more electrical outlets and double storage for the bottles I have on hand....Although too much liquor sounds like a damn fine problem to have!

Since MadDog brought up the topic of storage….my original design I had a couple of ammo crates bolted to the back wall of the bar for storage when I started. Sigh, yet another lesson learned. I outgrew the space immediately. Not having much of a footprint to work with I considered linear shelves as a more efficient storage replacement. That idea seemed far too simple and logical. So instead I decided to make something with second hand display barrels….seems tiki enough….

With one bad idea never being enough I decided to add a Sidebar Beverage system in to one of the barrels….

The final result looks ok and better than what I had started with.

Storage continues to be a struggle. I literally have surrounded the back of the bar with bottles….

Ha ha - I absolutely did NOT recognize the room in those "before" pictures (I also forgot this was your new TC name and kept wondering who the heck this person was who knew me!)

Glad you're getting pictures up here for everyone to see! It's a seriously impressive room - you guys are in for a treat when you see more.

Thanks Bama. You’re too kind.

I wish I could say that everything was planned in the design, construction and decoration of the bar itself. Sadly, it wasn’t. Most of the time, I find weird shit and think “That would be fun in the bar.” Such is the case with The Guardian. A friend of mine that makes Halloween props said he had an extra talking skull. My immediate response, “yeah I want a talking skull” having no idea what the hell I’m gonna do with it….. when I picked it up it was bolted to one of those wooden salad bowls that every Italian restaurant used to serve dinner salads in. Once at his new home, in a very Shakespearian fashion we spent some time staring at each other before I decided what to do with him. (He won all of the staring contests btw) Finally, I decided to mount him on the overhang over the bar. Secure a few feet of threaded stock and the Guardian has a home. His skull rotates and tilts on a three axis gimbal and the jaw moves in cadence with speech. Pretty fun.

Pleased with the result, I decided he needed a body….or at least a portion of one. I dug through the old Halloween decorations and found a willing sacrifice. I stole his upper torso and tried to align the threaded stock with the skeleton spine. After he was mounted I used some brush on poly stain to age him up and match the colors. He then needed his own spot light to showcase him over the bar.

I never planned for the bar to have Disney effects. But here we are…

apparently, movie files can’t be uploaded….sigh… well the Guardian recites the welcome speech from the Haunted Mansion elevator and the Jack Nicholson “You can’t handle the truth” speech.

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Looks great. No, you can't load video directly to TC but you can upload to YouTube and provide a link.

Great idea MadDog! Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/jcmyzPLUCZQ

In the continuing Disney theme just about the time I finished the Guardian the same friend called and said he had a “Zombie taking parrot”…. WTF ???? Where have these been my entire life?!?! Hell yes I want a zombie taking parrot! I’ll be right over. This time I knew exactly where I was going to place him.

At the end of the bar I had a little dead space between the bar and captains helm beer dispenser. Stack some barrels and presto the perch for my new talking parrot was ready. Very Disney btw.

Although it’s difficult to see, the top of his head is red, thus his name; Red

Red’s vocabulary is larger than the Guardian. Red says about 20 different phrases.

The video of Red in action:

https://youtube.com/shorts/aWegDRRv9p8?feature=share

Much like Las Vegas, I don’t think clocks have a place in tiki bars. They kind of defeat the concept of escapism. (I won’t start a contentious discussion regarding the trend to limit customers to 90 minutes in a commercial tiki bar) That being said I did put in a clock behind the bar. Most of the items behind the bar are personal and not worth mentioning here except the clock. The vintage tiki Primo beer clock is one of my favorite additions to the bar. I know they are rare and I was super stoked to find one and hang it in the bar.

Those videos are great! I'd love to be able to animate my phriend Phineas, maybe one of these days
https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=54044

I think I have beaten the bar itself to death in this thread. So, I’ll start to bore my three readers with the evolution of the rest of the space. I did mention at the beginning that, this was the story of a dive bar. Therefore, no dive bar would be complete without a pool table. I know a pool table! “That’s not tiki.”

One significant drawback to a pool table is the amount of space they consume in a home bar. I intentionally left the center of the room empty to accommodate a table. When I was planning, I learned that placing and leveling was a crucial aspect of pool table ownership. (This was my first pool table) Essentially, decide where it goes and then its there forever. This was a problem for me because I am constantly tinkering and moving stuff in the bar. Fine, I’ll leave this one thing alone. I found a very tropical rug to place in the center of room while preparing to receive my new toy…

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-17 13:26:12 ]

Thanks for sharing MadDog. The pics of Phineas are hilarious! I may have to steal your idea and caption some of my characters.

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-17 20:12:30 ]

Enjoy! LOL

For me, one of the aspects of a pool table that isn’t tiki, is the over table lamp. Billiard lamps tend to be tacky beer swag or ornamental leaded glass. Definitely not tiki. So my solution, build your own. Yup, I’m an idiot. Anyway I saw a picture on the internet of a lamp made of rattan, heck I could do that. So armed with a router, rotozip and a glue gun I built and wired a triple lamp frame out of bamboo. I’m not sure I would get UL certification but I don’t think the Professor could do better for the Howell’s. Once the frame was built I used bamboo Chinese boatman hats as shades…. Voila…. My version of a tiki billiard lamp

Perfect! It doesn't get any better than that

Now that the space was ready …..on to the pool table. Much like billiard lamps, pool tables generally aren’t very tiki. While browsing the internet I discovered an interesting design trying to make a pool table tiki by a company named Primo Craft. I contacted the owner and told him I wanted one. He kindly told me that the tiki pool table I saw on the internet was a “one of” and they didn’t make them. I asked him to make a second one, initially he said no. After much begging, pleading and groveling on my part, he finally relented and agreed to make a similar table. The owner turned out to be a great guy and liked the idea of helping me make an incredible space. We talked through the design and he agreed to match the trim that I purchased from Oceanic Arts (RIP Leroy, you are sorely missed!) to case the windows in the bar as side trim on the pool table. Needless to say I was excited about the design. Also….Did I mention that Vitu Waitui is located in San Diego…. Yup….oh, and, Primo Craft happens to be located in Minnesota ….. it should be easy to get a slate pool table delivered…..oh, and did I mention that my home is situated on a hillside and the grade of the 300 foot long driveway prevents anything larger than a passenger vehicle pulling up to the house. Yes sir ….this pool table idea of mine was absolute concrete proof that I am a complete idiot. Undeterred by my own stupidity, we pressed on. After some catastrophic mishaps. The pool table was finally in its home Vitu Waitui.

A few finer points of the design the traditional diamond markers on the side rails had been replaced by shark teeth.

In addition to the Oceanic Arts trim was the bacbac matting on the sides. Also…. Did I mention the legs, well…. The legs were tikis carved in Hawaii, Of Course.

[ Edited by ECTiki on 2023-08-19 11:59:14 ]

The pool table is freaking amazing... congrats.

Thank you Tacky!

I can’t even decide what I am most impressed by. Everything looks amazing.

As for a pool table not being tiki, who cares? It’s your bar, do what you want.

Thank you for the kind words Beachcomber. I appreciate the support. This dive bar’s journey isn’t over with yet. We’re only about half way there to bring it up to present day. I’ve got at least 40 more posts to bore everybody with….. er… I mean to share with the group. 🤣

Whoa Dude! That pool table is serious dedication to a theme! Looks great! (I don't even want to know what that costs!)